Mayo by-election 2018: Rebekha Sharkie confident of beating Georgina Downer in ‘Super Saturday’ contest

REBEKHA Sharkie has won the Mayo by-election, with Georgina Downer conceding the battle at 8pm.

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REBEKHA Sharkie has won the Mayo by-election, with Georgina Downer conceding the battle at 8pm.

A packed cinema cheers @MakeMayoMatter on as she gives her victory speech. @SkyNewsAust pic.twitter.com/fIetHubOM7

— Stacey Lee (@Staceylee_) July 28, 2018

With 68 out of 76 polling booths counted, the Centre Alliance candidate has picked up 57.96 per cent of the votes.

Georgina Downer has 42.14 per cent.

.@MakeMayoMatter makes her speech as the re-elected member for Mayo @theTiser #SuperSaturday #mayobyelection pic.twitter.com/T49Cnqo7go

— Jade Gailberger (@JadeGailberger) July 28, 2018

The by-election was triggered after Ms Sharkie - who won Mayo for the Nick Xenophon Team in 2016 - became caught up in the dual citizenship saga and was forced to resign.

She was the first non-Liberal to hold the seat since its 1984 creation and is hoping to repeat the result.

Her opponent, Ms Downer, is the daughter of Howard government foreign minister Alexander, who held the seat for the Liberal Party for 24 years. A recent poll in The Advertiser put her ahead 59-41 on a two-party basis while a ReachTEL poll of more than 700 voters returned a similar result on Wednesday night.

Centre Alliance candidate Rebekha Sharkie in Mt Torrens this morning. Sharkie says she’s nervous but hopeful of winning today. AAP Image/David Mariuz.

Despite the stark result, neither candidate has been willing to give weight to the poll.

“My intention is to be successful tomorrow and, of course, run next year for re- election as the member for Mayo,” Ms Downer said.

“I expected this would be a difficult campaign but it’s been a really fantastic time out here in Mayo and I’ve had a great reception in the community.” Ms Sharkie, the clear favourite, denied she was in a “unlosable position”. “I am so nervous here today,” she told reporters on Friday.

“The poll that counts is the poll (on Saturday).” Counting will start after polling closes at 6pm local time.

Rebekah Sharkie says she’s both nervous and hopeful of being returned to federal parliament as the member for Mayo with voting underway in Saturday’s by- election.

The Central Alliance MP-turned-candidate joined her parents at Mt Torrens, in the Adelaide HIlls, casting the first ballot at now-closed Lutheran school in the town.

She says while it’s been a long campaign, she and her team have done all they could and she wouldn’t change a thing.

Liberal candidate Georgina Downer with her father, Alexander at a Mayo by-election pre-polling booth in Mount Barker. AAP Image/Kelly Barnes.

“This has been a wonderful way to bring my community together,” she said. “My team of volunteers, we’ve given this everything we possibly can. “You can only be hopeful. You can only be optimistic but ultimately we’ll know the result at the end of today.” Ms Sharkie first won Mayo from the Liberals in 2016 but was forced to resign when caught up in the dual citizenship saga.

Opinion polls have her well in front of Liberal candidate Georgina Downer despite Ms Downer enjoying strong support in recent weeks from a string of high- profile party figures, including two visits from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and one from former PM John Howard.

She is also the daughter of former foreign minister Alexander who held Mayo for 24 years from 1984, though the family connection may have played against her in the end.

Georgina Downer arrives to cast her vote in Mayo. @AAPNewswire pic.twitter.com/hC3XLoxRi8

— Tim Dornin 💻 (@TimDornin) July 28, 2018

The bananas are in pyjamas on the campaign trail in Mayo. They’re backing Rebekha Sharkie in opposing cuts to the ABC. @AAPNewswire pic.twitter.com/JwGCAdFPNn

— Tim Dornin 💻 (@TimDornin) July 28, 2018

Ms Downer also battled criticism that she was something of a blow-in after spending most of the past 20 years living interstate or overseas. Ms Sharkie played up her own local credentials as someone deeply involved in the area for many years.

“I love my community. That is why I put my hand up two years ago. That is why I put a second mortgage on our house two year ago,” she said.

“People said that was crazy but I just felt I had to do it.” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged Mayo residents to vote for Ms Downer, who he said had run a campaign in tough circumstances.

“The message in Mayo is very clear that Rebekha Sharkie - she is not a Labor candidate but most of the time she votes for the Labor Party,” he said while campaigning in Tasmania.

Counting will start in Mayo after polling closes at 6pm local time. - AAP

OFF THE RECORD PODCAST: SPECIAL EPISODE - MAYO BY-ELECTION